Arjun Built a 6/6 Dual Life in India and the US After a Big Salary Cut from US Partnership Track — Was It Worth It?
After a US consulting partnership track and salary cut, Arjun chose India and built a 6/6 dual life — six months in India and six in the US every year with his US-born wife — while launching Pivot and keeping family on both continents close.
Related planning guides: If this question is part of your broader return plan, also review moving back to India from Canada guide and moving back to India from Germany guide.
More than half his life away from home
Arjun had been away from India for more than half his life. That single fact framed the decision he eventually made: if he never moved back, he would never know his parents as an adult — only as the kid who went.
That question sat with him for reasons beyond sentiment. He had lost loved ones before their time and did not want a repeat. Regret, he said, was a teacher he listened to carefully.
India's growth from roughly 2013–2014 onward mattered too. Friends who had returned right after college sounded genuinely optimistic about opportunity here. The move was not only about family — it was also about betting on a market that felt like it was accelerating.
From Meerut to Gurugram to NYU at 17
Arjun was born and raised in Meerut in north India. He completed high school in Gurugram on the International Baccalaureate track — at the time, many Indian universities barely understood IB compared with ICSE or CBSE.
His aim was US undergraduate study. He applied widely in senior year and landed admission at New York University. He moved to New York just under 18 — Meerut to Gurugram to the largest city in the world. Culture shock was real; the journey, he says, was still worth it.
He stayed in the US about 10 years through 2018: roughly three years studying and seven working. The idea of returning was not a snap decision — he had been thinking about India for about 18 months before he actually moved.
Partnership track — and the fork in the road
By 2018, Arjun's US path was lining up cleanly. He was at a consulting firm that had put him on the partnership track — equity, entrenchment, a foreseeable American life.
He was also in a stable relationship with someone he met at NYU, born and raised in the US. Marriage plus partnership likely meant long-term settlement abroad. The other road was India: parents aging, a burgeoning economy, and a life he might actually experience as an adult.
He chose the road less taken. If you are weighing a similar fork, our guide on preparing to return and the USA country planning page help translate emotion into sequencing — visas, money, schools, and timing.
Fifty applications, zero replies
Arjun's US specialty was executive compensation and corporate governance consulting — small everywhere, tiny in India. He estimates perhaps 1,000–1,500 people work in that field in the US and fewer than 100 in India.
He did not want to switch careers at the same moment he switched countries. So he hunted for a precise match. He applied to roughly 40–50 jobs. Not one positive response came back.
Online applications felt like a waste of time. He pivoted to networking — harder for him than for returnees with India work history, because his network was childhood friends, a few college contacts, and family friends, almost none in his niche.
How networking produced three offers
Pre-COVID, many people discouraged the move. His mind was made; once he explained why, a few supporters activated their networks.
He reached out to about four or five people. Two opened doors. Within a month or two he had three offers.
The fit he wanted came through Mercer, which was building its executive compensation and governance practice for India and needed someone to lead that vertical. A niche US skill found a niche India mandate — not a job board.
He still talks about this with people trying to return: persistence in networking beats quitting after a silent inbox. Tech and engineering returnees often find faster matches; specialized consultants should expect sponsor hunting.
The salary cut math nobody warns you about early enough
Arjun was paid well in the US. India market conversations pointed to roughly a 75% nominal cut for his profile. Even on a purchasing-power basis, it was below what he might have hoped — but still workable for the lifestyle he wanted. He was single with no dependents; that simplified the trade.
His rule of thumb for returnees: expect anywhere from a 25–30% reduction in the best case to 75% in the hardest niche matches. Many people land between one-third and two-thirds lower than US cash compensation.
If you have dependents, negotiate harder and model CTC before you accept — not after you have already shipped your life. The NRI financial checklist is the right place to pressure-test runway, housing, and school costs against a lower India offer.
A lower CTC can still win on lifestyle if your fixed costs drop and family time rises — but only if you model it honestly before the move, not from a WhatsApp forward about "₹12 lakh tax-free for everyone."
COVID, marriage, and starting Pivot
Two big decisions landed at the end of 2019 and early 2020: he would marry after a long courtship, and he would start his own company — Pivot (mypivot.work).
He traveled to the US to get engaged. The plan: his wife would wrap up her US job and join him in India within a couple of months; they would marry and he would launch the business. COVID rewrote the calendar. They were apart about eight or nine months instead of two.
She reached India around August or September 2020. Starting a company in that window was a risky bet — he believed macro trends might accelerate what Pivot was built for, but validation was thin. He went ahead anyway.
The first two India years were acclimatization — personal and professional. Because the move was his choice, not someone else's, he enjoyed the challenge rather than resenting it.
Six months in India, six in the US — what actually breaks
When they married, Arjun and his wife agreed on a dual base. Both are family-oriented; neither wanted to cut off parents on either side. Settling permanently in one country would distance one set of relatives by default.
Since COVID restrictions eased, they have spent roughly six months in India and six in the US each year. Pivot, in Arjun's view, could serve both markets from early on — not only India or only the US.
What is hard: time zones. When one spouse is in the US and the other in India, each often works late with teams in the other country. Housing is flexible — Airbnbs, short leases (they did a one-year Mumbai lease during COVID), no owned home yet by deliberate choice.
What is open-ended: kids. Dual-base living works for them now; raising children may force a different geometry later.
Taxes when you genuinely live in two countries
Dual-base living adds tax complexity even when double taxation does not. India and the US have a DTAA; tax paid correctly in one jurisdiction should not be due again in the other on the same income — but you must file properly in both and show each rupee or dollar was taxed somewhere.
Entrepreneurs juggle personal and company taxes. Arjun's practical advice: hire a cross-border accountant or use tools built for people who split the year across countries. Sloppy filing is where penalties show up — not in the treaty itself.
For return-year mechanics, start with our DTAA guide and India tax filing guide for NRIs and returnees. If you need hands-on filing, Desi Return's India tax filing service handles AIS reconciliation and cross-border cases.
India is not utopia — neither is the US
Arjun pushes back on two lazy assumptions: that US experience automatically wins in India, and that India's lifestyle is unlivable for returnees.
On work: even giants that print money in the US struggle here. He cites Amazon — billions spent, many bets still not working in India despite US profitability. Local market literacy matters as much as resume prestige.
On lifestyle: traffic and pollution are real, but he does not think they are dramatically worse than five or ten years ago. Infrastructure is improving — Meerut now has rapid rail to Delhi in under 50 minutes versus three or four hours earlier. Metros still offer cosmopolitan pockets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
The US is not a chores-free paradise either — you trade pollution for solo household labor and different stresses. Preference, not propaganda, should drive the city and country pick.
What he tells NRIs who already want to move
Most people Arjun meets are not ambivalent about India — they are worried about job, lifestyle, and execution. Solve those and the desire is already there.
- Job first: Use job boards if you must, but invest heavily in networking — recruiters, hiring managers, anyone who will put your name in front of a decision-maker. Peace of mind follows income certainty.
- Lifestyle honestly: If you grew up in India, you mostly know the trade. If you left young, visit with fresh eyes — convenience has improved even where pollution has not disappeared.
- India market respect: Your US wins may not copy-paste. Plan for learning curve, not automatic authority.
- Financial clarity: Savings from US or Europe stretch further here, but negotiate CTC with dependents in mind and keep minimalist ties if mobility matters to you.
He is reachable via Pivot for readers who want to follow his work directly.
Arjun's story is not a template for everyone. Partnership-track consultants, niche specialists, and dual-country couples face different math than a straight tech return to Bengaluru. The through-line is simpler: he knew what he was buying — time with parents, a stake in India's curve, and a life designed on his terms — and he paid for it with salary, patience, and networking labor.
Personal experience shared in interview format — not financial, legal, or tax advice. Complex cross-border cases need qualified professionals.
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